1. About NormandyONtour

The are lots of companies to chose from, why should I chose NormandyONtour?

We don’t like to say too much about other companies, as we’d rather concentrate on what we do best. So if you chose to take a tour with us, be assured that our standards are the highest in the industry. Our vehicle fleet is brand new, therefore it is in pristine condition.

Furthermore our happy, motivated & widely-experienced Guides are made up primarily of native English-speakers (or bilingual guides), who have worked on and around The D-Day Landing Beaches of Normandy for many years. We also employ two multilingual administrative staff members, who maintain our other websites, and work alongside our Driver-Guides for Tours and Transport-Service bookings, both in English, as well as in ‘other’ languages.

We are proud of our great customer-service, and we are equally proud of the way we handle our affairs, in particular when it comes to showing respect to our Veterans, clients, partner companies, and to our colleagues and their families.

At some point in the very near future, we plan to invest in a high-street presence, and a wee place to call ‘home’. We would like to have our offices located right-smack-bang in the centre of Bayeux, with a souvenir shop attached. At present (2023) our HQ is situated within Bayeux Intercom’s suite of offices, just outside medieval Bayeux.

To stay informed, why not sign up for our monthly Newsletter on our homepage? (no spam ever)…

2. Why did you choose the name NormandyONtour?

We chose NormandyONtour to satisfy three ends: Firstly, to pay homage to the veterans of Operations Overlord & Neptune, which were the two codenames given to the two initial phases of the entire military campaign, beginning from D-Day preparations onwards, until the first bridgehead was established in Western Europe.

Secondly, we live in Normandy and wanted both a name and a logo that would remind people not only of their D-Day Tour, but also of their Normandy trip in general. Designing our own copywrited logo was a real labour of love.

Lastly, we love to be out & about ‘ON Tour’, meeting lovely people from the four corners of the globe. In 2018 we took a family of US Rangers round the Pointe-du-Hoc, and THAT doesn’t happen very often. One tour member – a Command Jump Sergeant Major – said as he departed at the end of the Tour: “Hey, I’ll send you something in the mail”…and here in Normandy it was just as quickly forgotten about; high-season being very busy.

True to his word, several months later, he sent his package to us here in Normandy, all the way from Quatar. In it were his very own US Rangers jacket (!), a US Marines sweatshirt and Rangers bottle-opener. Treasured gifts today…

3. Is my booking safe in the hands of NormandyONtour ?

2019 – the year of the 75th D-Day Annniversary – was our first year of official business as NormandyONtour (with 2020/21 closed due to covid), so today our Trip Advisor and Facebook accounts are still growing. We have also asked a few previous clients, from late 2021, to contribute reviews, which we have featured on our homepage (see also our Google Business Reviews page). 

Our aim in 2023, and as we move forward, is to serve the general public to 100% of our capacity, so that we may grow in the years to come. We have invested heavily in the best D-Day Guides in Normandy, a fleet of new vehicles, an excellent website full of vibrant photos and equipped with a state-of-the-art secure booking system and we believe we have re-designed the very BEST Tours Normandy now has to offer. Our tours are fresh & our Guides are a happy crew!

We simply ask that you trust yourselves into our care for a day, and we promise, you will NOT be disappointed.

4. Can I pay safely online?

To afford clients maximum flexibility, we have configured TWO online payment gateways:

Firstly, at checkout we offer direct secure creditcard payments via Stripe (which is well-known in the USA, and like Paypal handles billions of dollars annually).

Secondly, we offer secure payments – ‘on demand’ – via PayPal (where we dispatch an email payment link, which can be requested via the booking system for all PRIVATE Tours & Transport Solutions).

So you can be sure your information is encrypted to the highest standards and is always secure.

Important: On the internet it is imperative that you only enter you personal information on websites which are ‘secure’. Safe websites (those which possess indepedent Security Certificates) always display a closed padlock and https://www. in the address bar. Any ‘Unsecured’ website runs a very high risk of security breaches.

NB: As merchants or ‘sellers’ of a product, we have no direct access to any of your financial details when you reserve (full payment) or pre-book (€1 deposit) online. Even the card-readers carried onboard our vehicles (for accepting last-minute transactions) are processed directly by our bank, and as such, your private data is never disclosed to us.

Once payment has cleared, our own server is notified and your seats are secured on our bus. Furthermore you will receive an instant invoice, complete with all of your tour details, your personal contact info and passenger itinerary confirmation, an order number and a state-of-the-art unique *QR Code (see image), which you may present to us on your mobile phone for scanning when checking in on the day of your tour, to verify that indeed YOU are our client.

Like barcodes no two QR codes are alike. If you’d like to double-check: Please click to expand the NormandyONtour QR-Code image, then go to your mobile phone and download any free QR-Code scanner from your android or IOS app store (try searching for ‘Lightning QR’). Now open it and scan our QR code – voila!

5. What if I don’t want to use my credit-card online?

For group tours, simply send us an email and ask to be able to pay cash on the day, and we will set that up. For all full-day Private Tours, Cultural Visits and Transport Services, full payment (or deposit payment) is required to secure a booking. You may, if you wish, reach out via email and we will provide our bank details for direct transfer, if you feel more comfortable paying in that manner.

6. Where do Tours & Transport Services depart from?

D-Day PRIVATE Tours: [Mon-Sun]

Either in central Bayeux, at Place de Québec (*please see below for GPS) or we can come and pick you up at 09:35 from your Bayeux / Caen hotel [Mon-Sun] or from Bayeux Train Station [Mon-Fri]. For tours from Paris or ‘Outside Zones’ please refer to the individual website pages.

NB: An ‘early-bird’ 08:35 pick-up option is also available on Private tours.

*Pick up is always 10-mins prior to departure.

 

D-Day GROUP Tours: Depending on the tours [Mon-Fri] or [Mon-Sun]

*08:30 Place de Québec departure on FULL-day tours [Mon-Sun]

*13:00 Place de Québec departure on HALF-day tours [Mon-Fri] in 2023 (and also 09:00 / 14:00 in 2024).

*09:45 Bayeux Train Station departure [Mon-Fri]

Your guide will be waiting for you directly in front of the tiny BAYEUX train station at 09:35 and we park right beside the platform at the exit. Our logo is always on the vehicle dashboard too!

*Reminder: Check-in / Pick-up is 10 minutes prior to departure on ALL tours & services.

Our central Bayeux, main Tour departure-point is Place de Québec, just round from the Tourist Office.

GPS Latitude: 49.274842 Longitude: -0.699791

7. Do you have wheelchair access on board your vehicles?

As we have limited space on board our vehicles, we cannot carry any client wheelchairs, walkers or strollers, however we do carry a foldable wheelchair upon request. We invite clients with reduced mobility to consider booking a half-day or full-day PRIVATE Tour, since this would not only allow us to adjust the pace of our tour, but would ensure you get to spend as much time as possible on the sites you really want to visit.

8. Can we bring the kids?

Absolutely! Several of our guides are actually former teachers and we love the imaginative colours children bring to a tour. They in turn make us laugh by sticking their heads up the inside of serious looking German turrets, foxholes and bunkers, hungry for that photo-album opportunity…

The only thing we ask clients to bear in mind is that a full-day tour can be long, and as such can be difficult for very small children, especially infants. If, for whatever reason you feel uncomfortable that your young child or baby may delay a group tour’s progress (E.g. Travel sickness, nappy changes, regular feeding etc), then we simply recommend a half-day PRIVATE Tour as an excellent all-round solution.

Finally, since European law dictates that each passenger has to occupy a paid seat, it is imperative that you include any children in your passenger itinerary when booking. Please note that in France children under 10 yrs (or 140 cm) also require special booster seats (or a 5-point iso-fix harness for babies), which we only carry upon request. If required, kindly specify in the Special Requirements section of the Booking Form.

9. Can we ‘rock out’ on board your bus?

We ask you to bear in mind that our vehicles are pristine and have been selected primarily with your security and comfort in mind.

Fizzy drinks leave sticky residue on seats and food can leave stains too. We therefore ask that clients only drink water on board our vehicles.

That said however, at rest stops and sites we will gladly open our fridge-box and serve you fizzy drinks, juice, water, chocolate snacks & energy bars, from the rear of the bus. We simply ask that you return with your rubbish to the bus, and that you do not re-enter the vehicle with your opened can of Coke or Orangina in hand.

As far as the ‘rocking out’ part goes, you are more than welcome to bring your guitar with you, as long as you don’t mind your Guide singing along?

On The Bus

10. I get motion sickness, can I sit up front in your bus?

11. What if I am hard of hearing? Does the guide use a microphone?

In answer to Q10: Absolutely. Please speak to your guide on the day and we will accommodate.

In answer to Q11: All of our buses are equipped with a hands-free microphone, which naturally amplifies the Guide’s voice for coverage throughout the entire vehicle. Although our Driver-Guides narrate the sites we pass throughout the journey, our primary focus behind the wheel is road & passenger-safety first. That is our company policy.

On sites themselves we require no additional amplification since our small groups are designed to be interactive, responsive & personable. Every passenger has a ‘front-row-seat’ for the on-site presentations.

Please note: Our transit time from site to site is around 10 – 15 mins on most tours, so it’s sometimes nice to simply recline, relax and just ‘take it all in’…

12. Should I tip the guide?

Our guides love their jobs and a gratuity is a nice way to make them feel that you are happy with the quality of the hard work they have put into your day, both in preparing the tour and presenting the sites to you, as well as answering your every question, avoiding pot-holes and sometimes even other distracted drivers, and keeping you cool on hot summer days. So it is always nice to give a little tip, and guides here in France – like waiters – actually make up a part of their income from tips. But there’s no obligation…

13. My Tour is over, and I am not too happy about something…

In the highly unlikely event that you have a grievance which we cannot successfully resolve, we offer a “no-quibbles” full refund.

What we would ask of you first is this: Please contact us directly in the first instance, providing as much detail as possible, so that we can investigate the matter thoroughly. Customer complaints are treated as ‘Urgent‘ here at NormandyONtour.

Online reviews MATTER enormously, especially in this industry, so we ask that you contact us and give us the change to rectify whatever the grievance may be. After all, it’s only through making occasional mistakes that we can learn to keep getting better.

In the unfortunate event that you are so disgruntled that you’ve lost your cool, we will not only refund your entire Tour fee, but our senior Guide will take you on a free replacement tour – lunch included – if that can be arranged within your & our timeline…

14. I think I left my iphone on the bus, how can I get it back?

One of our clients once left his nice sports jacket lying on the rear parcel shelf. We posted it back to Washington and he received it 7 days later. He also paid the postage via Paypal, including a tip for our honesty and we provided him with a receipt. He then wrote us a kind letter of thanks.

Should you leave something on board, you can either *call us on + 33 (0) 783 810 921 and leave a message or contact us via email (*Please remember if telephoning that we’re on Paris time).

We will send any left items via post and simply ask that clients accept responsibility for paying postage costs. The obvious remedy is: ‘NO jacket left behind’. But mistakes do happen, and we’ve got your back. But PLEASE always check on, beside and under your seat before exiting the vehicle.

15. Cancellations

Q. What if I need to cancel, will I get a refund?

A: Yes, 100% of your payment will be refunded (minus a charge-back fee of 3-5% and any booking platform fees e.g. Viator), up to 60 days prior to your tour departure.

Refunds for tours cancelled within 60 days of scheduled departure are covered by our own Cancellation Insurance which is available for purchase at checkout.

Please note: Access to our full T&Cs is provided along with your purchase receipt and booking confirmation. (Note: Please click the ‘Cancellation Policy’ image for info).

If a Tour or Service is cancelled less than 24hrs BEFORE the scheduled departure time, please be advised that your booking fee is automatically forfeited.

Why not take out our Cancellation Insurance at checkout for peace of mind?

→ Our Insurance gives you the right to cancel right up until 24hrs prior to the scheduled time of your Tour or Transport Service departure. And as long as you have notified us by email at least 24hrs BEFORE the time of your scheduled departure time, we will offer you a “no-quibbles” refund (% on a *fixed scale).

*Kindly refer to the Cancellation Policy for details.